Boulder County residents can now register to virtually attend or speak at a Nov. 9 Planning Commission hearing on proposed changes to the land use code addressing oil and gas development.
The regulations were revised in response to the passage of Senate Bill 19-181. Also known as “Protect Public Welfare Oil And Gas Operations,” the act “prioritizes public safety, health, welfare, and the environment in the regulation of the oil and gas industry by modifying the oil and gas statutes and by clarifying, reinforcing, or establishing various aspects of local governments' regulatory authority over the surface impacts of oil and gas development.”
The county moratorium on new oil and gas development and seismic testing will remain in place through Dec. 31 while the regulations are under review.
Staff will present the proposed changes and the Planning Commission will receive public testimony at 4 p.m. Nov. 9 but no action will be taken by the Planning Commission. To sign up to speak as an individual or as a group pooling time, click here. Name, address and email address are required to register to speak. For groups that are pooling time, only the designated speaker should register but he/she will be asked to submit the names and addresses of those who are donating time, according to a county news release.
Individual speakers will receive two minutes to make their comments. Those speaking behalf of a pooled group will have two minutes per group member up to eight minutes total. All individuals donating/pooling time need to be present at the virtual hearing when the designated pool speaker for the pool is called, according to the release.
Online speaker registrations are automatically time-stamped at the time of sign-up and those time stamps will determine the order in which speakers will be called to address the board, according to the release.
The speaker order and estimated times will be available on the oil and gas webpage after noon on Friday.
Comments also can be submitted in advance of the hearing by emailing [email protected].
Those who wish to attend the hearing but not speak, can register here.
The Planning Commission will reconvene at 4 p.m. Nov. 10 for discussion and action. No public testimony will be taken on Nov. 10. If required, the Planning Commission will continue its discussion of the oil and gas code changes at 4 p.m. Nov. 17 and 19 in advance of county commissioners holding a public hearing at 4 p.m. Dec. 1. Commissioners’ discussion of the proposed changes will continue at 4 p.m. Dec. 3 and, if necessary, Dec. 10 and 15, according to the release.
